Death
Death (Japanese. 死神 Death God), also known as the Grim Reaper, is a recurrent villain from Konami's Castlevania series. He has appeared in every game except Castlevania: The Adventure and Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge. Death usually appears near the end of a hero's quest, often by the Clock Tower, to challenge them before they confront the final boss. Overview Character history Castlevania: Lament of Innocence This mysterious being first forged an alliance with Mathias Cronqvist - who later became known as Dracula - in 1094. Initially, Death pretended to be a servant to Walter Bernhard, owner of the Ebony Stone, giving him immense power and control over the forest so it would always be night. However, Death later betrays him after Leon Belmont defeats him with the Vampire Killer whip. It is revealed that Mathias Cronqvist had the Crimson Stone, a stone much more powerful than the Ebony Stone. With Walter out of the way, that gave Mathias Cronqvist access to Bernhard's Ebony Stone as well, giving him both of the Vampire Treasures. To add insult to injury, Mathias uses the Crimson Stone to suck out Walter's soul and place it inside the stone. His soul then became a power source to fuel Mathias' dark desires. Crushed by Mathias' turn to the dark forces of evil, Leon Belmont was about to slay his former friend when Death arrived and challenged Leon in the final showdown of the game. Even though Death was defeated, Mathias made his escape after some parting words with Leon. With Mathias Cronqvist gone, Leon Belmont swore that no matter where he should go, The Belmont Clan would hunt him and his kind down forever. Since then, Death has proven to be the Count's most loyal and devoted servant. Castlevania: Curse of Darkness After Trevor Belmont had successfully defeated Dracula, the Count placed a curse on all of Europe, with the intent that the corruption and misery bred from it would bring about his ressurrection. To speed up the process, a mysterious priest by the name of Zead came across Hector, and appeared friendly enough with his wanting to help Hector defeat his nemesis, Isaac. What Hector didn't know was that the priest, Zead was actually Death in disguise. However, his disguise did not fool the timetravelling Saint Germain who knew that if either Devil Forger, Hector or Isaac should fall, then the dark lord Dracula could be revived. Both fought, and in spite of Saint Germain getting the upper hand during their first tussle (and mentioning he would return until Zead surrendered), Zead managed to trick him into the Eneomaos Machine Tower and freeze his powers until he was defeated in combat by Hector. After this, Saint Germain left the timeline, after asking Hector to give Zead his sarcastic regards. In the reborn castle of Dracula, Hector fought Isaac and beat him to the brink of death. But before he knew it, the body of Isaac was whisked away into a coffin by Zead who had big plans for him to be the new host body for Dracula's ressurrection. It was then that Hector realized who Zead was. Shedding his disguise, Death appeared and battled Hector. Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance This time around, Death wanders through Dracula's Castle searching for his Lord while trying to understand where his master has dissappeared to. Death soon realizes that due to Maxim Kischine's eagerness to find and destroy Dracula's body parts the same as Simon Belmont did about half a decade ago, he inadvertantly had awoken the spirit of Dracula. This led to Maxim slowly being taken over by the spirit of Dracula, and the split of Dracula's castle into two different castles. Death soon realized that Maxim Kischine's body would make a suitable host for the resurrection of Dracula, and soon sought to prevent Juste Belmont from finding his former friend and freeing him from Dracula's control. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night After the dark priest Shaft's successful ressurrection of Dracula, the Count is swiftly defeated by Richter Belmont in 1792. However, due to a sinister curse placed on him by Shaft, Richter is slowly possessed by an evil spirit. 5 years later, in 1797, Richter Belmont mysteriously dissappears and Dracula's Castle appears once again. This time, Dracula's son, Alucard awakens from his self-inflicted permanent slumber when he senses that something is terribly amiss. When he enters Dracula's Castle, Alucard is confronted by Death. Since Alucard is Dracula's son, Death gives him a chance to cease his attack and turn back. Upon refusing, Death steals all of his equipment and scatters it throughout the entire castle. Later, when Alucard encounters Death again, Death notes that he has given Alucard ample warning, and with Alucard not backing down, Death engages Alucard in combat. Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin In Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin, Death once again wanders through the castle seeking his Lord and Master: Dracula. However, when he runs into Jonathan Morris and Charlotte Aulin, he learns of the interloper, Brauner, taking the role of Lord of the Castle for himself. Death initially rebuffs the idea of anyone except Dracula controlling the castle, saying the notion is "positively absurd". At first, he does not even try to fight the heroes, even hinting at a posssible alliance to kill Brauner, albeit with different aims in mind. However, he is rebuffed and is confronted in the castle's Clock Tower. He leaves the battle when his energy is exhausted, saying he has other affairs to handle. Later, after Jonathan Morris and Charlotte Aulin have defeater Brauner, Death materializes and slices through Brauner with a swing of his Scythe to finish him off. When Jonathan and Charlotte pursue him, they find the newly risen Dracula. Ready to take him out, Jonathan is blocked by Death who has come to Dracula's aid. In a surprising turn of events, Death and Dracula decide to team up for their battle against the two young heroes. When either Death's or Dracula's life is depleted, Death screams: "My power! Use my power!" At this point, Dracula uses his Power of Dominance and absorbs Death's soul, allowing him to evolve into the True Dracula, Tradition Death is a Grim Reaper, as such he is never seen without his Scythe. His attacks may have been changing from game to game, but in basic, he always summons floating sickles out of thin air to hunt down his oppositions. Attacks Death always summons summons sickles out of thin air to attack the player. In the first games, he floats about letting the sickles do all the work. In later games, he can have a second form, and attacks the player with his sythe. He also later has the ability to summon large pillar-like beams to attack the player. In most games, Death has the ability to teleport around the room. Game-Specific Information Vampire Killer Haunted Castle Castlevania Castlevania II: Simon's Quest Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse Castlevania Legends Super Castlevania IV Castlevania: Bloodlines Dracula X: Rondo of Blood Castlevania: Dracula X Akumajo Dracula X68000 Castlevania Chronicles Castlevania: Symphony of the Night Death first appears in the beginning of the game, asking to Alucard stop the attack to the castle. As Alucard refuses, he removes Alucard's equipment, and leaves. Alucard meets him again in the Reverse Mine, where he asks again for him to stop. Refusing again, Death says he has no choice them but to kill him, and they fight. Death has two forms: His normal form that tosses small scythes and death balls, and a monstruous form that uses two scythes. After his defeat, he leaves the Eye of Vlad. Castlevania 64 Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness Castlevania: Circle of the Moon Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow Castlevania: Lament of Innocence Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow Castlevania: Curse of Darkness Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin References *Mr. P's Castlevania Realm *The Castlevania Dungeon *Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance Official artwork at Castlevania Dungeon *Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin Bestiary by Darth Nemesis at GameFAQs.com *Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin Walkthrough and FAQ by Zach "Darko" Long at GameFAQs.com External links *Konami of Europe's Death Profile for ''Castlevania. Category:Characters Category:Villains Category:Bosses Category: Vampire Killer Characters Category: Haunted Castle Characters Category: Castlevania I Characters Category: Simon's Quest Characters Category: Dracula's Curse Characters Category: Legends Characters Category: Super Castlevania IV Characters Category: Bloodlines Characters Category: Rondo of Blood Characters Category: Dracula X Characters Category: Chronicles Characters Category: Symphony of the Night Characters Category: Castlevania 64 Characters Category: Castlevania 64 Bosses Category: Legacy of Darkness Characters Category: Circle of the Moon Characters Category: Harmony of Dissonance Characters Category: Aria of Sorrow Characters Category: Aria of Sorrow Bosses Category: Lament of Innocence Characters Category: Dawn of Sorrow Characters Category: Dawn of Sorrow Bosses Category: Curse of Darkness Characters Category: Portrait of Ruin Characters